


Reverie

by abirdwhowritesthings



Category: Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 13:19:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13272246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abirdwhowritesthings/pseuds/abirdwhowritesthings
Summary: MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS for Arc The Lad IV: Twilight of the Spirits. I strongly suggest not reading if you haven't finished the game.





	Reverie

**Reverie**

 

Their bodies glowing with tension, Darc and Kharg unleashed a dual attack on the monster holding Lilia in its parasitic grasp. The agonized cries of the dying Meshimgen all around them rose with Lilia's own death throes as the dark beast withered. Both brothers drew back in unison, breathing raspily, unable to believe what they had just seen. It was as the so-called 'Divine Ruler' had said: by destroying the evil, they had also destroyed someone they cared about. They were stained, sullied, forever trapped in a world of darkness and forced to live with their guilt for the rest of eternity.

"Did she really... die just now?" Darc's gruff voice sounded pained to Kharg. He was touching the birthmark on his arm, just as Kharg did in times of turmoil. Kharg looked into his brother's fearsome eyes and knew in that moment that Darc hadn't truly given up his human heart.

  
~

_When we first met, you were scared of me but you were still kind to me when I had been betrayed by my own. The sunlight glistening on the water's surface and the sounds of the birds in the trees brought an aura of serenity to that secluded place. And though I knew that you, a human, were meant to be my enemy, how could I bring myself to kill the first person in my life who had shown me true compassion? I may have died that day, if not for you._

_I didn't want to admit it, but ever since then your face and your voice became a spark inside my lonely heart._

~

_When I brought your ortena to you in the Airship Megist, your face lit up with the most radiant smile and the spark in my heart burned brighter. Part of me resented you for your effortless beauty, your ability to bring peace to the raging storm of feelings within me. I buried that spark, tried to snuff it out, so I could be angry instead. Anger was always the most comfortable thing to feel, because anger was a source of strength for me. I snapped at you that day, when I shouldn't have._

_"If something is important to you, you never let it go!" How was I to know that my words would come back to bite me?_

~

_When my mother died, you held me. You were no longer afraid of my horns, my scales, my claws; you allowed me to feel anger and resentment and even despair. Anyone else would have taken advantage of my weakness, but with my face buried in your fragrant clothes, I cried for the first time in many years and didn't feel weak at all. The fire within me was fueled once again by the life you breathed into it. I didn't know that you were feeling my pain by proxy, because you too had lost the ones who brought you into this world._

_Both of us were more alone than we should have been, but you showed me that 'alone' isn't the same thing as 'lonely'._

~

_When I saw you last, I regretted that I hadn't been paying enough attention to you. I blamed myself for letting the humans take you away. You, who had become a pillar of light, a hidden flame of passion raging within my heart, were corrupted and used as a tool against the world you loved so much. The injustice of it all sickened me. Seeing you laying atop the altar sickened me more. I wanted nothing more to save you, like you had saved me, but I couldn't even do that much._

_I stoked the blaze with my anger and let it burn white hot. No way would I lose you like this. And yet..._

~

Caught in a reverie of memories, Darc believed the pinpoints of light in front of him were a result of his vision being blurred by tears. He dared not allow the humans or his ragtag tribe of Deimos followers to see that he was crying. They weren't like Lilia, they would surely ridicule him. Only Lilia could see his true self and still care for and respect him, because her respect had nothing to do with power or fear. Lilia was the most genuine and kindhearted person he had ever known, the one person who he had trusted beyond any shadow of a doubt. Lilia was...

Lilia was forming in front of him right now.

Darc's jaw dropped, his claws moved gently across the birthmark on his upper arm.

As beautiful as ever, Lilia stood before everyone, warm and radiant and alive. He hadn't thought that the power of the Great Spirits would reach this dark place, but it seemed the power of the Hero and Holy Mother surpassed even that of the Great Spirits. Whatever the cause, Lilia had been returned to the world, and now Darc was adamant that he would never let another evil creature sully her with its filth. Allies or no allies, he would defeat the evil that threatened the world and even settle for keeping peace with humans if it meant Lilia would still have that lovely smile on her face.

~

_We lay on your floor in a mess of loose tissues, you playing the ortena with just one hand, with your other small hand engulfed safely in my claws. You didn't mind that your skin touched my scales, and I didn't mind that sometimes you missed a note because you were laughing so much. I was trying to keep tissues aloft simply by blowing on them; you helped, too, when they fluttered in your direction. I pulled tissue after tissue out of the box until there were none left. Sometimes they landed upon our faces or torsos, most landed elsewhere, out of reach of even a strong breath. I didn't have Wind magic anymore, now that the Spirits had left the world. I didn't want Wind magic anymore, if losing it meant I could have you instead._

  
_Being with you was a whole new kind of magic. It felt surreal, like a dream._

**Author's Note:**

> If you care about someone and haven't spoken to them in a while but you've been considering contacting them, don't put it off. Pick up the phone and call or e-mail them, let them know they're in your thoughts. Write a letter, draw something, send them a song that makes you think of them.
> 
> I know a certain friend would have loved Lilia as much as I do, so I'll dedicate this one to her.  
> 


End file.
